Consumers, manufacturers, and retailers are becoming increasingly interested in environmental and socio-environmental concerns, such as recycling, child labor practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy demand, and so forth. In addition, the current economic climate is making “green” solutions ever more attractive, particularly those with the potential to decrease cost or increase profitability. However, access to information regarding a number of these issues can be difficult to locate, assuming that said information is even readily available.
A variety of current approaches focus on broadly defining products or processes as “green”, conflict-free, environmentally friendly, etc. For example, a number of products are marked with seals that intend to confer to prospective purchasers that the products are somehow more ecologically friendly than comparable products. Similarly, a number of certifications are available in various areas, typically at an expense to the party seeking the certification. The merit of these seals and certifications can be difficult to ascertain, because details of what they intend to convey is often unknown or unclear.
The current approaches are often only vague or ambiguous indicators of a products actual environmental or socio-environmental impact. In addition, the rating or certification systems may ignore or give undesirable weight to any number of factors that are important to different people and groups. Consequently, it would be desirable to have a dynamic technique for determining the sustainability of products, and efficiently locating information regarding said sustainability.